


Do It For the Vine

by Chash



Series: Miss Atomic Bomb [17]
Category: The Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 12:38:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2622071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spring break, Alanna's freshman year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do It For the Vine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [goshemily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/goshemily/gifts).



> I knew that I had to write Jon/Alanna bro-fic called "Do It For the Vine," because Jon obviously does everything for the vine. But I didn't figure out what I wanted it to be until yesterday, which is auspicious timing, because Emily always wants Jon/Alanna bro-fic and it's her birthday today! Good job, universe, and happy birthday Emily!

Alanna isn't sure she should go to college with Jon.

It isn't, no matter what Thom says, because of the crush thing. It's just that Alanna thinks she should maybe be striking off on her own for college, making her own way in the world. Following Jon around feels like she's just relying on him like she always does, like she can't make her own friends. Like he's the only one she'll ever get.

"I'll be there too," Thom points out.

"Oh good, following my best friend _and_ my brother. You're right, that's not pathetic at all."

She almost hopes she doesn't get accepted, just so she doesn't have to make the decision herself. But she does, of course, and she goes, of course. She can't just leave Thom and Jon and Gary. And she makes friends of her own, at least a few, Thayet and Numair, and she gets along with most of Jon's new friends too. And the frat brothers who don't like her at least end up respecting her when she wins a short, decisive fight with the douchiest of them.

Raoul is her favorite, and he's Jon's favorite too, so it's not exactly a surprise when Jon drapes one arm around each of them (which, given the foot of height difference between the two of them, is pretty difficult, but Jon is nothing if not determined) in early March and says, "Spring break."

Raoul and Alanna exchange a look. "What about it?" Alanna asks.

"What are we doing?"

She makes a face. "Thom's going home, but I went for Christmas, there's no way I'm going back this soon."

"I'm probably going home," says Raoul. "I'll just sit on the couch and watch Netflix for two weeks. It'll be great."

"Nope," says Jon. "Absolutely not. That's not an option."

"Oh," says Raoul. "I should have known. What are we doing?"

"We're going on a road trip! To South Carolina. And then we're gonna hang out in my dad's beach house."

"Or we could go somewhere really warm," says Raoul. "Isn't April a little early for the beach?"

"Sure it is, with _that_ attitude. Come on! Road trip! Two days of my awesome road trip mix--"

"It's just "Fast Car" on repeat because Jon doesn't understand what that song is about," Alanna tells Raoul.

"It is about a fast car, Alanna. It says so right in the title. Anyway, two days driving down, nine days there, two days driving back, and then two days here to recover from all of the debauchery. It is the best plan I've ever had."

"That's probably true," says Alanna.

"So you guys are in, right? We're gonna rock this. It's going to be epic. Someone is going to write a poem about it. Like, Homeric style. Songs will be sung. And then I will put them on the mix tape."

"I'm in," says Raoul, with a shrug. "It's not like Netflix is going anywhere."

"I guess I'm not doing anything else," Alanna says, but she can't keep the grin off her face. 

*

Jon has this old, beat up piece of shit Saab, because Jon is convinced that if he has a nice car, he is not getting the full experience of being a teenager. It would be easy, she thinks, for people to resent Jon, because he's so rich and still buys cheap stuff and acts like he isn't. Maybe people do resent him. But it's not like Jon doesn't know he's rich; he's just a fucking weirdo. That helps, as far as Alanna is concerned. 

"I barely fit in this car," Raoul says, looking at it skeptically.

"I'm giving you perpetual shotgun," says Alanna, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'm tiny. I'll fit in the trunk if we have to."

"You two are so negative," Jon says. "I even added another song to the mix tape, Alanna. Now it's "Fast Car" _and_ "Greased Lightnin'.""

"That might actually be worse than just "Fast Car" non-stop for two days," says Alanna.

" _So_ negative," says Jon. He glances at Raoul. "If you're in shotgun, you're on roadhead duty."

"That sounds like something that's going to happen," Raoul says dryly.

"Hey, I don't make the rules."

They put up with Jon's tape for almost an hour, and then have a vote and switch over to Raoul's iPod. And then it's easy to settle in and enjoy it, the wind blowing in through the open windows, Raoul and Jon bickering in the front seat, and the air getting warmer as they move south. It's how Alanna thought college would be, and she's glad she's sharing it with these people.

With her best friends.

Jon and Raoul share a bed in the hotel, because, again, Jon believes it's not a road trip if no one is sharing a bed. Jon has a lot of strong and incorrect beliefs about what constitutes a road trip. In the past, she thinks he would have tried to make her share with him, but there's still some lingering awkwardness around her crush on him that he hasn't been able to shake. Sometimes it makes her sad, but not if it gets her her own bed. So there are perks to awkwardly having been in love with her best friend, even if it hurt at the time.

And if he'd liked her back, she probably wouldn't get something like this at all, an easy, laid-back trip with him and Raoul. Or maybe dating Jon would be just like being friends with Jon, except with sex. That might be good. But then Raoul would have felt like a third wheel, and she's not sure that would have been worth it.

Jon's great, but--well, she's not sure she'd be as happy as she is now. If he'd loved her back.

The beach house isn't as ritzy as Alanna would have expected, considering Jon's dad owns it. It's open and airy, right on the ocean, but not as large or fancy as Jon's actual house. He gets booze somehow (Alanna is pretty sure Jon could get booze anywhere) and they spend a few days lazing around, pretending they're going to try to go in the water, and throwing seashells at each other. As Jon ideas go, it's pretty great.

Of course, he gets bored after only two days. Lying around doing nothing isn't really Jon's jam. He likes to use his drunkenness in a productive way.

"We could play Truth or Dare."

Alanna and Raoul exchange a look. "That sounds like an awful, awful idea," says Alanna.

"There's no way it would end well," Raoul agrees.

"Wusses," Jon mutters.

"There are like a billion minigolf places around," Alanna offers.

"Are they drunk minigolf places?"

"You have to bring the drunkenness with you," she says. "But I know you can rise to that challenge."

"Okay," says Jon. "We can do minigolf. But tomorrow we're doing something _I_ pick."

"Absolutely not," says Raoul.

"It was worth a shot. Can we bring flasks and do a minigolf drinking game?"

"Of course," says Raoul magnanimously. "Is there any other way to play minigolf?"

Alanna is actually awesome at minigolf, which naturally means she must be the most punished by the drinking game.

"Drink for every stroke you are under par," says Raoul.

"And every two strokes you are over par," Jon adds. "There's no way I'm not drinking just because I suck at minigolf. But Alanna is definitely drinking the _most_."

"You guys are the best," she says dryly. "Watch me get par every time and win."

"If winning means being the least drunk, then I don't want to win," says Jon.

They get through five holes before an employee catches Raoul taking a discreet nip from his flask and kicks them out, so instead they go to the beach and drink there. It's cool and the night sky looks endless, full of more stars than Alanna can remember seeing. Jon kicks his shoes off and walks in the water, and Raoul watches with this smile on his face that makes Alanna feel a little sad for some reason.

"Hey!" Jon yells. "Raoul! Truth or dare!"

"Which one is safer, do you think?" he asks Alanna.

"I guess it depends if you have any secrets."

"Dare!"

"I dare you to get naked and jump in the ocean!"

"Probably still better," he muses, stripping out of his clothes and handing them to Alanna. He charges into the sea with an enviable lack of fear, and Alanna has to wonder what it is he doesn't want Jon to know.

*

"Karaoke!" says Jon.

"No," says Raoul.

"Absolutely not," Alanna agrees.

And yet, somehow an hour later, they're at a karaoke place that doesn't card, and even Alanna has a beer, despite the fact that she looks about fourteen. So at least there's that. If she's going to be at karaoke, she's at least going to be drunk and with Raoul, who is as terrified of karaoke as she is.

Jon hasn't sung anything after an hour, which is pretty worrying in and of itself. He's usually on stage making an idiot of himself within ten minutes, so him staying at the table, quiet, is cause for concern.

Alanna's on the verge of asking what's wrong when Jon downs a shot, stands, nods like he's making a big decision, and says, "I'm gonna go sign up. Don't leave, okay?" He says the last right to Alanna, and she frowns.

"We aren't going to leave," she says. "What--" she starts, but he's already going up. She turns to Raoul instead. "You think he's okay?"

Raoul is frowning. "I dunno. He's not being very--Jon."

The previous song winds down and there's Jon in the middle of the stage, looking somber. It's nothing like his karaoke usual, singing at the top of his lungs and dancing in a way that haunts Alanna's nightmares.

"Oh no," says Raoul. "He's going to try to _sing_."

"Fuck," says Alanna. "I thought he knew he couldn't sing."

"Me too."

"When you try your best," Jon attempts to croon. Jon can technically carry a tune, it's just not a good tune, or the tune that he wants to carry. It's another, more horrific tune. "But you don't succeed."

"I guess not even Jon can shout Coldplay," Raoul observes.

"He _could_ ," says Alanna, trying not to wince. Jon is looking right at her. "He should. It would be better."

"Lights will guuuuuuuuuuuide you hooooooooome, and igniiiiiiiiiite your boooooooooones."

"Why is he looking at me," Alanna mutters. "Everyone is going to know we're with him."

"And I will try to fix yoooooooou."

He's practically pointing at her, and she kind of wants to murder him, because it's not like she needs _fixing_ , and even if she did, he's not the one who needs to do it. It's not his job.

But beneath the cat-strangling sound of Jon singing Coldplay and the squirmy embarrassment and the slight annoyance, there's this warm, bright ball of joy. This is Jon apologizing. This is Jon telling her he loves her, not like she thought she loved him, but in the way that lasts forever anyway.

She might actually _cry_ at Jon Conte mangling "Fix You." She'll never live it down.

Jon finishes up, and there's polite applause, which is more than she expected. She's surprised no one tried to boo him off stage.

He sits down next to her and Alanna leans up and kisses his cheek. "I love you too." 

His smiles is surprisingly soft. "Cool." Then he grins at Raoul. "So, you guys are doing the next one with me, right?"

Alanna looks over at Raoul. He's smiling, but a little wistfully, and Alanna feels her gut twist. She wonders what he thinks is happening. She's not sure herself. "We could do one, right?" she asks.

"Sure," he agrees. "Just don't get used to it. One time deal."

Jon grins and orders another round of beers. "That's what they all say."

*

They sing "Fast Car," because by this point they're all very familiar with the lyrics, and Jon does a few more numbers on his own. They're a real improvement over his attempts to actually sing a real song, and the audience is so grateful they actually cheer for him. She's never seen him so happy, and he _loves_ karaoke.

He's also totally wasted by the time they leave, and Alanna drives them back while Jon sings "Toxic" in the back seat.

"Sometimes he makes you remember why you're friends with him, huh?" Raoul says, soft.

"Every now and then."

Raoul gets Jon put to bed and Alanna goes up to the crow's nest, still feeling a little like crying. It's really over. She and Jon are never going to be together, and she knew it already, but this feels final in a way nothing else ever did.

It doesn't hurt, it just aches a little.

Raoul climbs up the stairs and sits down next to her on the floor, looking up at the sky. "Okay?" he asks.

"Okay."

He glances over at her. He's very handsome, she thinks. She's not interested, but part of her thinks she should be. "So you're not in love with him."

"No." There's something odd in his tone, and she has to wonder. "I'm not really interested in dating at all right now."

Raoul smiles. "I know. Or, I assumed. I'm not--" he clears his throat. "That wasn't why I was asking. I'm not really--you've got some parts that don't appeal to me." She raises her eyebrows, and he flushes. "Breasts, etc."

"Oh," she says.

"I wasn't asking because I'm interested in you," he says, with the same strange tone, a very slight emphasis on _you_ , and she gets it in a flash of insight.

"Oh," she says again, softer.

He shrugs. "I'm not interested in dating either." 

It doesn't come off quite convincing, but she doesn't push. She leans against his shoulder, and he puts his arm around her, and they fall asleep there on the roof.

*

Three days before they're supposed to leave, Jon says, "Screw this, pack up your stuff."

"Why?" asks Raoul.

"Because the beach in April is _boring_."

"It's almost like we told you that and you ignored us," says Alanna. "Are we going back to binge drink in the comfort of our own homes?"

"No way. It's only an eight hour drive to Disney World," Jon says. There's a slightly manic glint in his eyes.

Alanna and Raoul look at each other. They've got the same manic glint themselves. Jon is contagious. 

"I'll get the mix tape," she says.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic of] Do It For the Vine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4798292) by [knight_tracer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/knight_tracer/pseuds/knight_tracer)




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